Media Release
13 October 2021
World renowned epidemiologist to headline Chamber webinar on vaccination myths and truths
The world-renowned South African epidemiologist Dr Salim Abdool Karim who is a former Chairman of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 will be headlining a webinar hosted by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber on 20 October 2021, to unpack myths and truths on vaccinations.
The webinar is one of many interventions the Business Chamber is rolling out as part of educating and empowering its members and the public on vaccinations. This also forms part of the ongoing debate on the importance of mass vaccinations to achieve herd immunity to ensure there are minimal infections and enable the reopening of the economy.
Dr Karim is well versed in Covid-19 and will offer an informed position on a number of key areas regarding vaccinations during the discussions. At the onset of Covid-19, he became one of the leading figures nationally who articulated the intricacies of the virus and helped guide South Africa to manage the pandemic.
He is widely recognised for scientific contributions to HIV prevention and treatment, and is the Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), and Professor of Global Health at Columbia University, New York. He is an Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard University, Boston, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University, New York, and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is an Associate Member of The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. He previously served as President of the South African Medical Research Council and is currently serving as a Member of the Africa Task Force for Coronavirus, the African Union Commission on Covid-19 and the Lancet Commission on COVID-19.
Dr Karim is ranked among the world’s most highly cited scientists by Web of Science. He serves on the Boards of several journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Global Health, Lancet HIV and mBio. He is the Chair of the World Health Organisation (WHO) HIV Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee as well as the WHO TB-HIV Task Force. He is a member of the WHO’s 9-member Science Council and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His contributions to microbicides for HIV prevention spans two decades and culminated in the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir gel trial which provided proof-of-concept that antiretroviral drugs can prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection and herpes simplex virus type 2 in women. He is the co-inventor on patents which have been used in several HIV vaccine candidates and his critical research on TB-HIV treatment has shaped international guidelines on the clinical management of co-infected patients.
His awards include the African Union’s “Kwame Nkrumah Award” which is Africa’s most prestigious scientific award, the Kuwait Al-Sumait Award, the Canadian Gairdner Global Health Award and pinnacle
Given the importance of providing factual information around covid-19 and vaccines, the Chamber has taken the decision to offer participation in the webinar for free. Interested parties can email Lungisile.Mtshutshwana at events@nmbbusinesschamber.co.za for more information.